Values as a predictor of job satisfaction of business technology faculty among selected community colleges

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to determine what values were perceived as being of "high importance" by business faculty of community colleges; to compare the values of participants of the study with those of three comparison groups (two-year private junior colleges; two-year community colleges; four-year universities;) and to explore the possible relationship of values to job satisfaction.

The design of the investigation was a questionnaire mailed to 185 business faculty members from mine community colleges which represented the states of Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. Colleges were selected which possessed characteristics (urban, rural, suburban and small, medium, large) as to be representative of the three community college systems. One hundred and fifty responses were received for a response rate of 81 percent. Two instruments were used to obtain data: The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) for measuring dimensions of job satisfaction and the Rokeach Value Survey for the ranking of values. The data was analyzed using the Page L-statistic and the Schucany-Frawley rank order test.

In this study business faculty members of community colleges ranked the tenninal and instrumental values of "high importance" in accordance with the ranking of the terminal and instrumental values by faculty members in general from samples drawn at two-year private junior colleges and two-year community colleges; and by business faculty representing four-year universities. Of the terminal values, the three values ranked highest by medians and composite scores were "self-respect," "family security," and "sense of accomplishment." Of the instrumental values, the three values ranked highest were "honest," "responsible," and "capable."

Respondents of this study also ranked a subset of the terminal and instrumental values, the "academic values" (sense of accomplishment, capable, intellectual, logical, imaginative), in concordance with the rankings by faculty of the three comparison groups. This confirmed the Rokeach (1973) study that educators were unique in placing a high priority to the "academic values" which indicate a high value on intellectual competence and self-actualization. The relationship between "academic values" and total job satisfaction was tested. Results indicated that there was no relationship between an individual's score on total job satisfaction and his/her respective ranking of the "academic values."

Finally, the possible relationship between "academic values" and two subsets of job satisfaction, "work" and "advancement," satisfiers and/or motivators according to Herzberg (1959), were explored. Results indicated that there was no relationship between an individual's score on the JDI subset of either "work" or "advancement" and his/her ranking of the "academic values."

In summary, the study concluded that business faculty of community colleges ranked the terminal, instrumental, and "academic values" in concordance with the rankings of the three comparison groups and that there was no relationship between either values and job satisfaction or values and Herzberg (1959) motivators and/or satisfiers.